As an example of the aforementioned first apparatus or second apparatus, JP 2015-012042A discloses a storage rack that stores containers that accommodate semiconductor wafers. The storage rack in JP 2015-012042A includes a plurality of housing portions that each house a container, and a supply apparatus that supplies nitrogen gas for preventing oxidation and contamination of the semiconductor wafers to the stored containers as a filling gas.
A storage rack such as that disclosed in JP 2015-012042A is installed in a semiconductor manufacturing facility. In semiconductor manufacturing facilities, the first apparatus and the second apparatus are not necessarily always provided in proximity to each other, and there are cases where containers need to be transported between the first apparatus and the second apparatus that are installed at separated positions. It should be noted that, as an example of the cases where the first apparatus and the second apparatus are installed at separated positions, a case is conceivable in which, as disclosed in JP 2013-245032A, a plurality of work zones are present in a semiconductor manufacturing facility, and a work zone in which the first apparatus is installed and a work zone in which the second apparatus is installed are different work zones. In JP 2013-245032A, as a transport apparatus that transports containers between the above-described different work zones, overhead transport vehicles and a conveyor that moves a placement portion on which a transport object is placed, along a transport path, are used.
However, in a transport apparatus such as that disclosed in JP 2013-245032A, during transportation of a container between a plurality of apparatuses, the container cannot be filled with nitrogen gas. For this reason, there is a risk that, if it takes a long time for the transport apparatus to transport the container, the concentration of inert gas within the container may decrease. Therefore, there is the problem in that it is difficult to maintain, in the inside of the container, a suitable environment for maintaining the quality of semiconductor wafers.
Thus, it is desired to provide a container transport facility in which, even when it takes a long time for transportation between the first apparatus and the second apparatus, a suitable environment for maintaining the quality of an accommodated article is easily maintained inside the container.